Burnedthumb on the Radio

Burnedthumb on the Radio

I’ve had a very exciting week. Tuesday saw the launch of Jim Carruth’s Black Cart, published by Freight Books. Jim read several of the poems, dealing with farming and rural life in Ayrshire. They are knowledgeable and unsentimental, and later in the year, when I hope to get back to thinking about Grounded Poetics, I’ll have a lot to say, but for now, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

But in the morning before that I had the pleasure of recording an interview with Shirley Whiteside of Barrhead’s Pulse Radio. This is a community radio, which receives a commendable amount of support from the local area, both in terms of advertising and help from the local authority, but also in active involvement from volunteers, including the local school.

I was recording for a programme called Booked, and talked about poetry at large, my poetry in particular, and encouraged people to read, write and participate in poetry events. I reviewed some recent poetry – Sheila Templeton’s Gaitherin, (published by Red Squirrel Press),Marion McCready’s Madame Ecosse, and the samplers from House of Three. And I read a few things.